(Radio Iowa) – The Buena Vista County Board of Supervisors has temporarily tabled a decision on a road use plan developed by a Minnesota company that will be replacing dozens of wind turbines in northwest Iowa.

Josh Yernatich, a project developer for ALLETE Clean Energy, spoke with county officials this morning. “There are several points in those roads where we’ll need some sort of remediation,” he said. “Where we’ll know for certain where those are and what the fix that’s needed or the temporary improvement that’s needed is when we move forward with engineering.”

ALLETE Clean Energy purchased two wind farms in Buena Vista County, near Alta, in 2014. The company will be replacing 259 existing wind turbines and plans to add 44 high efficiency turbines at the two sites in 2027. Buena Vista county supervisors plan to speak with the county’s engineer before taking a vote on ALLETE’s road use plans during the project.

(RI file photo)

The two wind farms have been operating since 1999. The company says refurbishing its Buena Vista County wind farms will improve turbine performance and reliability and support the renewal of power sales agreements. The electricity generated at the two wind farms is sold to MidAmerican Energy, Alliant Energy and a regional electricity transmission organization known as MISO.